Bayonetta Dev Platinum Games Secures Investment, Has Big Announcements Planned For 2020

Prolific action game developer Platinum Games announced that the Chinese tech giant Tencent has invested in the studio. While details about the capital investment remain unknown, Platinum confirmed that Tencent's invested money doesn't affect the developer's independence.

Platinum's president and CEO, Kenichi Sato, said the investment will help "strengthen our foundation as a business and expand from game development into exploring self-publishing." Last year, Platinum revealed plans to self-publish two brand-new IPs, alongside the continued development of Babylon's Fall and Bayonetta 3. The studio also promised multiple announcements for later this year.

Tencent placing money in Platinum Games marks another knot in a string of acquisitions and investments by the company. At present, the Chinese tech conglomerate has a hand in a number of video games studios, including Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, Riot Games, Ubisoft, and more.

While Platinum nor Tencent has announced the investment amount, Sato assured that no amount of money will have any sway in company leadership. "This partnership has no effect on the independence of our company, and we will continue operations under our current corporate structure," Sato in the statement. "We also hope that this partnership can give us a wider global perspective, while still creating high-quality games that stay true to our name."

The studio's last effort, 2019's Astral Chain, launched to extremely positive reviews. We awarded the action-adventure game an 8/10 in our Astral Chain review, saying, "Astral Chain's shortcomings don't overshadow what it does best. It's an incredible execution of a fresh take on Platinum Games' foundation, standing among the stylish-action greats. And its own anime-inspired swagger makes fights all the more exhilarating."